Dharamsala abuses the Dalai Lama

The Tibetan leadership in exile has spent the last six decades abusing the 82-year-old the Dalai Lama’s name and power, with very little results and progress to show for it. How much longer can they keep up the charade of being the custodians of the Tibetan people’s interest and welfare?

The opinion piece below was sent to dorjeshugden.com for publication. We accept submissions from the public, please send in your articles to [email protected].

By: Solaray Kusco

In the 60-odd years that has seen the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) milking the international community for every dollar they can, no other refugee community has been allowed to get away with shockingly low levels of financial transparency and accountability. The CTA, or the Tibetan leadership based in Dharamsala, exist on Indian soil but are never expected to show their accounts, pay taxes or otherwise contribute to the governance and welfare of India. Similarly, the multitude of Tibetan non-governmental organizations that raise funds for the so-called Tibetan cause are never asked to produce their accounts or show their expenditure, and this has led to accusations of financial mismanagement. It is clear for everyone to see that the only reason why such an exception has been made regarding the Tibetan leadership’s finances is because they have their secret weapon: the affable, compassionate, disarmingly charming Dalai Lama.

Despite the six decades of generosity that India has shown to the Tibetans, even allowing them to establish their own Parliament on Indian soil, the leadership in Dharamsala have done nothing but abuse His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s name and reputation for decades, to line their own pockets, eliminate their political opponents and otherwise bolster their own self-serving behaviors.

Globally, there is an unprecedented level of trust in His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Political and religious leaders regularly cite him as an outstanding example of unquestionable honesty and integrity, as someone whose words can be trusted and believed. This reputation has, quite undeservingly, filtered down to the rest of the Tibetan leadership who have long been painted as an underdog fighting the might of the Chinese leadership.

But it is precisely this reputation that the CTA have been abusing for the last 60 years, to the detriment of their Tibetan people. Instead of developing political and thought leaders who are capable of driving the negotiating process with China, the Tibetan leadership have taught their people to become beggars lying in wait for a handout from the world. Thinkers and intellectuals like Jamyang Norbu have had their free speech brutally suppressed; potential leaders and politicians like Lukar Jam have had their chances of leadership violently discouraged.

The fact that the Dalai Lama’s name is used to turn a community against someone, is proof that the Dalai Lama’s name is the only one with power in the Tibetan community. How come no one is accused of being ‘anti-Lobsang Sangay’ or ‘anti-Samdhong Rinpoche’? The fact is that no other name bears as much influence and weight in the Tibetan community; everything is measured against the Dalai Lama’s opinions and decisions, and not the Tibetan leadership’s or Parliament’s.

The Tibetan leadership have, in effect, been abusing the Dalai Lama’s name to alienate many forward-thinking progressives capable of modernising the Tibetan community ready for the 21st Century. So even if people are passionate about Tibet and about improving the welfare of the exiled community, over time they are forced to set their passion aside and fall in line with the narrow thinking of the leadership.

In this way, the Tibetan leadership have also been abusing the Dalai Lama for the last 60 years, by forcing him over and over again to work hard for Tibet while the leadership and people sit idly by and do nothing. The leadership have taught their people that it is okay to push the entire burden of the so-called Tibetan cause, and the entire weight of the Tibetan people’s expectations onto the Dalai Lama’s shoulders.

The Tibetan leadership forces His Holiness the Dalai Lama to beg for assistance. Yet, despite millions of dollars received in financial aid, the Tibetan leadership have done very little to convert this assistance into actual, tangible results for their people. So it would seem that the Dalai Lama’s work for the last 60 years has been utterly in vain.

Is this how the Tibetan people profess their so-called love and devotion for the Dalai Lama, by relying on him to single-handedly achieve all Tibetan political goals? Give the 82-year-old monk a break. Where most people would be happily retired by this age, going off to do retreats and deeper meditational practices, the Tibetan leadership continue to cruelly parade the Dalai Lama around the world to drum up support for their ’cause’. In their laziness and selfishness, the Tibetan leadership have turned His Holiness the Dalai Lama into a punchline, forcing him to kowtow to Western powers for money and awareness of the so-called Tibetan cause.

So almost rather naively, the international community have forgotten that the Tibetan leadership is run by many hands who are not ordained, who are not monks, or who are not required or expected to be kind by virtue of their vows. But that was in the last 60 years and slowly, we are seeing signs of change. Countries are rejecting meetings with the Dalai Lama and refusing him entry, and even refusing entry to Tibetan would-be asylum seekers. Predictably, the Tibetan leadership are very unhappy about this. When countries start to value their own relationship with China over the CTA’s trouble-making schemes, the Tibetan leadership cries foul, claiming abuse and disrespect of human rights.

Narendra Modi (Prime Minister of India) and Xi Jinping (President of China) greet one another. Why should the two countries have an antagonistic relationship just because the Tibetan leadership will not benefit from this? The average Indian citizen should not have to suffer from India-China hostilities which are consistently provoked by the Tibetan leadership’s protests against Beijing. India should not have to bend to the Tibetan leadership’s definition of human rights.

But why are these countries forced to bend to the Tibetan leadership’s definition of human rights? Why are they forced to respect the Dalai Lama? What about their own citizens’ human rights to have economic opportunities and financial stability, and a better standard of living, all of which can be gained with a positive relationship with China? It is a clear sign that instead of relying on their intellect, negotiating ability and political skill, the Tibetan leadership have lazily relied on the Dalai Lama’s status as an international symbol of compassion. And when this is no longer enough, they have little to fall back on apart from bleating about how countries have been bullied into submission by China.

This lack of options after 60 years embodies the laziness and complacency that defines the Tibetan leadership. No other refugee community in the world has received as much benefits and consistent financial support as the Tibetans, not the refugee community in the Darfur, not the Rohingyas in Burma, and not the Nepali community suffering statelessness in Bhutan. Europe consistently rejects Syrians, and Australia runs controversial detention centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru for asylum seekers. But Tibetans are always welcome; wherever they are in the world, the Tibetans are always warmly received with open arms and masses of sympathy and financial assistance. Shockingly however, no other refugee community has received so much aid and accomplished so little despite all of this help.

What is the difference between the suffering refugee communities elsewhere in the world, and suffering Tibetans if not the fact the Tibetans have the charismatic Dalai Lama? Darfur, Rohingyas, stateless ethnic Nepalis all lack this singular figurehead that the world can identify with their cause.

It is always the Dalai Lama meeting various world leaders that generates the headlines, and never Samdhong Rinpoche or Lobsang Sangay meeting with them as an equal. Seen here is His Holiness meeting with (top row) former US President George W. Bush and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nelson Mandela, and (bottom row) Archibishop Desmond Tutu and former US President Bill Clinton.

And that is precisely what should frighten the CTA the most. They should contemplate on whose name fills the headlines and, as a result, their wallets. When the Dalai Lama travels and meets with foreign dignitaries, it is almost to be expected that these meetings with lead to some kind of headlines and news coverage, and (usually empty) promises of political assistance. After 60 years and a succession of leaders from Samdhong Rinpoche to, more recently, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, no other personality or office bearer in the Tibetan leadership generates as much headlines as the Dalai Lama. Even in India, the headquarters of the Tibetan diaspora, news headlines are focused on the Dalai Lama and not on the appointed leader of the Tibetan community, the Tibetan Prime Minister Sikyong Lobsang Sangay.

How many people outside of the Tibetan community would really know who these two gentlemen are? If the names and faces of these two leaders are not as universally familiar as the Dalai Lama’s, something has gone very wrong in the Tibetan leadership’s efforts to safeguard the future of their people.

This is a clear sign that globally, the international community is not interested in Samdhong Rinpoche, Lobsang Sangay or anyone else. Despite Lobsang Sangay’s extensive international tour schedule, these appointed leaders are seen merely as emissaries of the Dalai Lama and in fact, independently of the Dalai Lama, no government really cares or has a sustained, proactive interest in the Tibetan community or plight. This is something that the Tibetan leadership, and especially Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, need to seriously reflect on. Obviously they are lacking in something that causes the world to fall in love with the Dalai Lama and not with them, and when the Dalai Lama is no longer with us, there will be no one left to lead the charge for the Tibetan leadership to generate awareness of the so-called Tibetan cause.

The Tibetan leadership also needs to consider if world leaders actually interested in the Dalai Lama as a person, as a spiritual mentor or as a political chess piece to be manipulated in power games against China. By over-relying on His Holiness as the face of their movement and struggle, and by exploiting his godlike status to suppress their enemies, the Tibetan leadership have turned His Holiness into a parody of his real role as a spiritual guide for millions of Tibetans.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama walks out the back door of the White House in Washington, after meeting with former US President Barack Obama. Is the international community’s respect for the Dalai Lama actually based on his true role as a spiritual mentor, or as a political chess piece to be manipulated against China? Is this really how you show genuine respect to someone, by showing them out the back door? There are doubts that someone like Nelson Mandela would receive the same treatment.

No one is more acutely aware of this than those who are marginalized, suppressed and ostracized by the Tibetan leadership. Tibetan Dorje Shugden practitioners, for example, would love to be reunited with the Dalai Lama and receive teachings from him, and be assimilated back into the rest of the Tibetan community. Many of them would love to view the Dalai Lama as what he really is – the historical spiritual guide for their community – but they are forced to stay away by a leadership who has made it a point to actively discriminate against them for the last 20 years. And so Dorje Shugden devotees remain torn – continue to respect the Dalai Lama as they have done for centuries, or relate to him as the spiritual leader who has imposed this ban against their religion and faith. Meanwhile, the Tibetan leadership stands by and watches silently, content to exercise their prejudice by violently imposing the ban whilst simultaneously doing little to repatriate the Dalai Lama’s reputation in the eyes of those who hold him responsible for this discrimination against them. Hence, in all levels and in all aspects, the Tibetan leadership abuses the Dalai Lama, using him to raise money and using him to justify their abuse and agenda-driven discrimination of their enemies.

At a time when the Tibetan community is so deeply divided over so many issues, and the leadership continues to lumber on in their abuse of the Dalai Lama’s name, the so-called Tibetan dream and everything that the exiled community hopes for seems to be moving further and further away than ever.

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What is the CTA for a club? Going around pretending to be a democracy and only because of HH the Dalai Lama they can make some foreign people believe it but it seems that karma is coming back.

The CTA is suppressing their own people and having a good life with the money originally meant for the Tibetan people. On top, their elections are a farce!

Listen here to Tenpa Yarphel who questions about the reliance of the Tibetan Government to Nechung, an oracle, which is understandable already but on top Nechung’s predictions seem to create more problems than anything else. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuKOjcpLH8A

What happens to Tenpa Yarphel now that he speaks up? Tibetans have started a Facebook page against Tenpa Yarphel and protest against him: http://bit.ly/2ysowTH. They even ask Tenpa Yarphel to resign: http://bit.ly/2zAH2af

Why would CTA allow the Tibetans in Exile in India to remain as refugees for 6 decades? Why have they done nothing about the cause of Tibets’s freedom, allowing 150 Tibetans to self-immolate and only speaking up against it, when self-immolation is committed by a Tibetan in Exile outside Tibet?

The answer is clear isn’t it? The Tibetans remaining as refugees is the only ground from which CTA can continue to fleece sponsors with ” poor me stories” and blaming China for their “plight”. Using self-immolations in Tibet and within China to continue to get sponsorship from “FreeTibet” supporters and sponsors is yet another mind-game that CTA plays very well.

But doesn’t CTA, realise that the winds of change are blowing their way ? HH Dalai Lama had always been the one that had pulled in all the sponsorship money for them. No one else has been commanding the respect of the sponsors enough for them to be ready to part with their money -only the Dalai Lama.And CTA has been abusing him in this respect all along. But now, things have changed. Countries and their people who used to listen to CTA’s stories because they respect and trust the Dalai Lama, are no longer interested. Now China the superpower commands their attention and respect. See how one country after another is not welcoming any visit from the Dalai Lama.They have all openly announced that they recognise Tibet as part of China. So how can they support or sponsor CTA anymore?

Unfortunately, the dream of Tibetan democracy is nothing but that. Look at this brave Tenpa Yarphel speaking up against the spirit Nechung (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuKOjcpLH8A). He brings up a good point, the Tibetans rely more on a spirit than they do on democratic principles and their own intelligence and care for their own people.

But these Tibetans themselves are so enamored with the spirit that they protest against Tenpa Yarphel, lame protests, but protests nonetheless, like this man who cut off his hair (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M30NL4hG8oA). I really don’t understand how this is a protest, but each to their own I guess.

Personally, I don’t really think much of the Tibetans who follow their lame government. I’ve seen first-hand just how much the average Tibetan suffers under their current leadership and this just goes to show that their government is ineffective and schismatic. But one thing about this whole situation is somewhat promising, there is a silver lining, and that is the point was raised by a Tibetan MP within their parliament. He wouldn’t have done so if other people in the Tibetan community did not feel the same way. It is time for Tibetan to free themselves of a superstitious, money-grabbing, self-serving, and impotent government.

The Tibetan government keep relying on Nechung for everything, though all his predictions and advice cause more damage than harm. Is it even wise to follow his advice, I mean he was wrong about His Holiness the Dalai Lama returning to Tibet in five years https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIDZLzXIgW8

That was in 2009, we are now in 2017, which was 8 years ago. Is his advice really trust worthy? I wonder why the Tibetan government even continue to listen to him. Perhaps they get something out of it?

What he said is true. I couldn’t believe it at first, because I never heard my parents or relatives tell much such things before. But when I asked my uncle who is a monk, he told me it is true. He said that Nechung gave bad advice and has continued to give bad advice. My uncle said that even many of the monks and high lamas don’t even believe in anything Nechung says. Better to say no rather than listening to his advice from now on. My parents were shocked. They used to go and see Nechung oracle when they were in India, but luckily I was able to move them to the USA. Now we better off. I can’t believe that the government still listen to the Nechung.

It’s quite refreshing to have someone from the parliament speaking up and raising questions about the unjustness that’s been happening within its own “government”. Tenpa Yarphel is extremely brave to speak up like that, Tibetans HAVE TO WATCH IT! 👍

MP Tenpa Yarphel is very brave to questioned the validity and accuracy of the spirit Nechung who the Dalai Lama always consulted, apparently Nechung has been giving highly inaccurate prophecies, but people still keep using him because Dalai Lama keeps using him and nobody dare to say otherwise, although Nechung is full of mistake, no wonder Tibetans did not get back their country even after 60 years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuKOjcpLH8A

I would like to share with you about this courageous Tibetan parliament MP who is speaking up against Nechung. He received a lot of backlash due to his bravery, but I hope it won’t deter him to speak up in the future. There are many people who actually agree with him

What will the all the people around the world and in Tibet do now? Dalai Lama says he is happy that Tibet is a part of China and should remain a part of China. So many Tibetans self-immolated for Tibet to be independent and now Dalai Lama did a 360 degree turn and says he wants to go back to Tibet and China and Tibet should be a part of China. So unbelievable. So many are angry and disappointed.

Tibetans ready to be part of China: Dalai Lama
Organised by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the event was a part of “Thank You India – 2018″ held by the Tibetan community across India to mark 60 years of its exile in the country.
Indo-Asian News Service
Bengaluru
Tibetans are ready to be a part of China if guaranteed full rights to preserve their culture, the Dalai Lama said on Friday.
“Tibetans are not asking for independence. We are okay with remaining with the People’s Republic of China, provided we have full rights to preserve our culture,” the 83-year-old spiritual leader said at “Thank You Karnataka” event here in the city.
Organised by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the event was a part of “Thank You India – 2018″ held by the Tibetan community across India to mark 60 years of its exile in the country.
“Several of Chinese citizens practicing Buddhism are keen on Tibetan Buddhism as it is considered scientific,” the Nobel laureate said.
Born in Taktser hamlet in northeastern Tibet, the Dalai Lama was recognized at the age of two as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. He fled to India from Tibet after a failed uprising against the Chinese rule in 1959.
China annexed Tibet in 1950, forcing thousands of Tibetans, including monks, to flee the mountain country and settle in India as refugees.
Since then, India has been home to over 100,000 Tibetans majorly settled in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh among other states.https://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/india/tibetans-ready-to-be-part-of-china-dalai-lama/293109.html

Since you started the cruel ban against the 350 year Dorje Shugden practice, how has it benefit your Tibetan society and Buddhism in the world? Things have become worse and most educated Tibetans can see this. They don’t speak out not because they don’t see your ban as wrong, but you instill fear in them and not respect. It is like fear of a dictator. I am sorry to say so. Everyone is divided. There is no harmony. Before your ban there was more harmony and unity.

By enacting the ban, you split the monasteries, split so many families, split regions in Tibet apart, split your disciples from you, split your own gurus from you, split Tibetan Buddhism apart. You have created so much disharmony.

It is not democratic what you have done to ban a religion within your community. You always talk of tolerance and acceptance and democracy and yet you do not accept and tolerate something different from your beliefs. When people practice Dorje Shugden you ostracize them, ban them from seeing you, ban them from using Tibetan facilities. You know you have done that. There are videos that capture your speech and prove this point. You even had people expelled from monasteries just because they practice Dorje Shugden. Some of the monks you expelled have been in the monastery for over 40 years. Many older monks shed tears because of this.

Many young educated Tibetans lost confidence in you as they saw the damage the Dorje Shugden ban created and they lose hope. Many have become free thinkers. They reject what you have done. So many people in the west left Buddhism because of the confusion you created with this ban against Dorje Shugden which is immoral.

You could of had millions of people who practice Dorje Shugden to support, love and follow you, but you scared them away. They are hurt and very disappointed. They loved you and respected you deeply before the ban. It has been 60 years and you have failed to get Tibet back. Your biggest failure is not getting Tibet back after 57 years in exile. Now you are begging China to allow you to return to Tibet to the disappointment of thousands of people who fought for a free Tibet believing in you. So many self-immolated for a free Tibet and now you want Tibet to be a part of China with no referendum from Tibetans. Just like a dictator, you decide on your own. It was your government and you that lost Tibet in the first place. Your policies and style of doing things do not benefit Tibet and Buddhism. You have been the sole ruler of Tibet your whole life and you still have not gotten our country of Tibet back for us. Our families and us are separated. Yet you create more pain by creating a ban to further divide people. Please have compassion.

No other Buddhist leader has banned or condemned any religion except for you. It looks very bad. You are a Nobel laureate and this is not fitting of a laureate. You should unite people and not separate them by religious differences.

You said Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi did not do right to the Rohingya people in Myanmar due to religious differences, but you are doing the same thing to the Shugden Buddhists within your own society. There is a parallel in this. You separate the Shugden Buddhists from the others in Tibetan society.

You have lost so many people who would have loved and supported you. You have lost so much support around the world. The Shugden Buddhists who love you number in the millions. When you are fast losing support from governments and private people, it will not do you well to lose more.

After you are passed away in the future, the rift you created between the Dorje Shugden and non-Dorje Shugden people will remain for a while and that will be your legacy. Disharmony. You will be remembered for this. Not as a hero but a disharmony creator.

Dorje Shugden will spread and further grow, but you will be no more as you are a human. No one wishes you bad and in fact we hope you have a long and healthy life, but we have lost so much hope and have so much despair because of you. All the hundreds of Dorje Shugden lamas, tulkus and geshes are maturing and there are hundreds of Dorje Shugden monasteries in Tibet who will not give up Dorje Shugden. You have made a mistake. These hundreds of teachers and teachers to be will spread Dorje Shugden further in the future.

The gurus that gave us Dorje Shugden as a spiritual practice and you have called these holy gurus wrong and they are mistaken in giving us Dorje Shugden. How can you insult our gurus whom we respect so much? If they can be wrong, then you can be wrong. Then all gurus can be wrong. So no one needs to listen to any guru? You have created this trend. It is not healthy. Your own gurus practiced Dorje Shugden their whole lives. Your own gurus were exemplary and highly learned.

Dalai Lama you have created so much pain with this ban against so many people due to religion. You are ageing fast. Are you going to do anything about it or stay stubborn, hard and un-moving. You show a smile and preach peace and harmony wherever you go. But will you do the same to your own people? Please rectify the wrong you have done. Please before it is too late. You can create harmony again or you can pass away in the future with this legacy of peace. May you live long and think carefully and admit what was a mistake in having this unethical ban against Dorje Shugden religion.

Why doesn’t the United States and its allies end Refugee Status for the useless Tibetans? They have been refugees for 60 years now and don’t tell me they still cannot get their lives back in order?

Tibetans really know how to put on a good show and use people, take their money and do nothing in return.

Trump and Allies Seek End to Refugee Status for Millions of Palestinians
In internal emails, Jared Kushner advocated a “sincere effort to disrupt” the U.N.’s relief agency for Palestinians.
BY COLUM LYNCH, ROBBIE GRAMER | AUGUST 3, 2018, 2:12 PM
Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, has quietly been trying to do away with the U.N. relief agency that has provided food and essential services to millions of Palestinian refugees for decades, according to internal emails obtained by Foreign Policy.
His initiative is part of a broader push by the Trump administration and its allies in Congress to strip these Palestinians of their refugee status in the region and take their issue off the table in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, according to both American and Palestinian officials. At least two bills now making their way through Congress address the issue.
Kushner, whom Trump has charged with solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has been reluctant to speak publicly about any aspect of his Middle East diplomacy. A peace plan he’s been working on with other U.S. officials for some 18 months has been one of Washington’s most closely held documents.
But his position on the refugee issue and his animus toward the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is evident in internal emails written by Kushner and others earlier this year.
“It is important to have an honest and sincere effort to disrupt UNRWA,” Kushner wrote about the agency in one of those emails, dated Jan. 11 and addressed to several other senior officials, including Trump’s Middle East peace envoy, Jason Greenblatt.
“This [agency] perpetuates a status quo, is corrupt, inefficient and doesn’t help peace,” he wrote.
The United States has helped fund UNRWA since it was formed in 1949 to provide relief for Palestinians displaced from their homes following the establishment of the State of Israel and ensuing international war. Previous administrations have viewed the agency as a critical contributor to stability in the region.
But many Israel supporters in the United States today see UNRWA as part of an international infrastructure that has artificially kept the refugee issue alive and kindled hopes among the exiled Palestinians that they might someday return home—a possibility Israel flatly rules out.
Critics of the agency point in particular to its policy of granting refugee status not just to those who fled Mandatory Palestine 70 years ago but to their descendants as well—accounting that puts the refugee population at around 5 million, nearly one-third of whom live in camps across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and Gaza.
By trying to unwind UNRWA, the Trump administration appears ready to reset the terms of the Palestinian refugee issue in Israel’s favor—as it did on another key issue in December, when Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
In the same January email, Kushner wrote: “Our goal can’t be to keep things stable and as they are. … Sometimes you have to strategically risk breaking things in order to get there.”
Kushner raised the refugee issue with officials in Jordan during a visit to the region in June, along with Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt. According to Palestinian officials, he pressed the Jordan to strip its more than 2 million registered Palestinians of their refugee status so that UNRWA would no longer need to operate there.
“[Kushner said] the resettlement has to take place in the host countries and these governments can do the job that UNRWA was doing,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
She said the Trump administration wanted rich Arab Gulf states to cover the costs Jordan might incur in the process.
“They want to take a really irresponsible, dangerous decision and the whole region will suffer,” Ashrawi said.
Saeb Erekat, the Palestinians’ chief negotiator, told reporters in June that Kushner’s delegation had said it was ready to stop funding UNRWA altogether and instead direct the money—$300 million annually—to Jordan and other countries that host Palestinian refugees.
“All this is actually aimed at liquidating the issue of the Palestinian refugees,” hesaid.
The White House declined to comment on the record for this story. A senior executive branch official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. policy regarding the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee program “has been under frequent evaluation and internal discussion. The administration will announce its policy in due course.”
Jordanian officials in New York and Washington did not respond to queries about the initiative.
Kushner and Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, both proposed ending funding for UNRWA back in January. But the State Department, the Pentagon, and the U.S. intelligence community all opposed the idea, fearing in part that it could fuel violence in the region.
The following week, the State Department announced that that United States would cut the first $125 million installment of its annual payment to UNRWA by more than half, to $60 million.
“UNRWA has been threatening us for six months that if they don’t get a check they will close schools. Nothing has happened,” Kushner wrote in the same email.
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said at the time that the U.S. had no intention of eliminating funding for Palestinian refugees, and that it was taking time to explore ways to reform UNRWA and to convince other countries to help Washington shoulder the financial burden of aiding the Palestinians.
But the following day, Victoria Coates, a senior advisor to Greenblatt, sent an email to the White House’s national security staff indicating that the White House was mulling a way to eliminate the U.N.’s agency for Palestinian refugees.
“UNRWA should come up with a plan to unwind itself and become part of the UNHCR by the time its charter comes up again in 2019,” Coates wrote.
She noted that the proposal was one of a number of “spitball ideas that I’ve had that are also informed by some thoughts I’ve picked up from Jared, Jason and Nikki.”
Other ideas included a suggestion that the U.N. relief agency be asked to operate on a month-to-month budget and devise “a plan to remove all anti-Semitism from educational materials.”
The ideas seemed to track closely with proposals Israel has been making for some time.
“We believe that UNRWA needs to pass from the world as it is an organization that advocates politically against Israel and perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem,” said Elad Strohmayer, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
Strohmayer said that Palestinians are the only population that is able to transfer its refugee status down through generations.
The claim, though long advanced by Israel, is not entirely true.
In an internal report from 2015, the State Department noted that the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees “recognizes descendants of refugees as refugees for purposes of their operations.” The report, which was recently declassified, said the descendants of Afghan, Bhutanese, Burmese, Somali, and Tibetan refugees are all recognized by the U.N. as refugees themselves.
Of the roughly 700,000 original Palestinian refugees, only a few tens of thousands are still alive, according to estimates.
The push to deny the status to most Palestinians refugees is also gaining traction in Congress.
Last week, Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado, introduced a bill that would limit the United States to assisting only the original refugees. Most savings in U.N. contributions would be directed to the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United States’ principal international development agency. But USAID is currently constrained by the Taylor Force Act, which restricts the provision of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian Authority until it ends a policy of providing aid to families of fallen terrorists.
“Instead of resettling Palestinian refugees displaced as a result of the Arab-Israeli Conflict of 1948, UNRWA provides aid to those they define as Palestinian refugees until there is a solution they deem acceptable to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Lamborn’s bill states.
“This policy does not help resettle the refugees from 1948 but instead maintains a refugee population in perpetuity.”
A congressional aide familiar with the legislation said its intent isn’t to gut UNRWA funding, but redirect assistance to descendants through USAID.
“The people that are suffering should still get assistance, but through appropriately defined humanitarian channels and aid programs,” the aide said.
Similarly, Sen. James Lankford, (R-Okla.), has drafted legislation that would redirect U.S. funding away from UNRWA and to other local and international agencies.
The bill, which has not yet officially been introduced, would require the U.S. secretary of state certify by 2020 that the United Nations has ended its recognition of Palestinian descendants as refugees.
“The United Nations should provide assistance to the Palestinians in a way that makes clear that the United Nations does not recognize the vast majority of Palestinians currently registered by UNRWA as refugees deserving refugee status,” reads a draft obtained by Foreign Policy.
Previous U.S. administrations have maintained that the vast majority of Palestinian refugees will ultimately have to be absorbed in a new Palestinian state or naturalized in the countries that have hosted them for generations.
But the fate of the refugee issue was expected to be agreed to as part of a comprehensive peace pact that resulted in the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“It’s very clear that the overarching goal here is to eliminate the Palestinian refugees as an issue by defining them out of existence,” said Lara Friedman, the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace.
“This isn’t going to make peace any easier. It’s going to make it harder.”https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/03/trump-palestinians-israel-refugees-unrwaand-allies-seek-end-to-refugee-status-for-millions-of-palestinians-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-unrwa-israel-palestine-peace-plan-jared-kushner-greenb/

Supreme Court of India JUSTICE Mr. MARKANDEY KATJU (RETD) writes that Tibet is much better under the Chinese than it was under the lamas who only wanted to make the populace slaves. It was feudal and it will never return to the backwardness again.

Time has come to acknowledge that Tibet has vastly improved under Chinese rule
JUSTICE MARKANDEY KATJU (RETD) | 12 August, 2018
From a terribly poor state hinged on a feudal system, Tibet has modernised and grows faster than the rest of China
This article has been prompted by Jyoti Malhotra’s article in ThePrint ‘Tibetan government quietly changed its PM’s designation. India won’t be unhappy about it‘.
China’s annexation of Tibet in 1959, ousting the Dalai Lama, had attracted it worldwide criticism. The Dalai Lama fled and was granted asylum in India, where he set up a government-in-exile with its headquarters in Dharamshala.
The Chinese claim Tibet on the grounds that it has been part of the country since the Yuan dynasty of the 13th century, which is disputed by the government-in-exile. But let us leave this that matter aside.
The more important question is whether Chinese rule has benefited Tibet.
The answer is that it undoubtedly has. As the Reuters’ Ben Blanchard writes: “Today Tibet is richer and more developed than it has ever been, its people healthier, more literate, better dressed and fed”.
Although Ben goes on to argue that this development masks “a deep sense of unhappiness among many Tibetans”, I will disagree. How can anyone be unhappy if s/he is healthier, better fed and better clothed?
Under the rule of the Dalai Lamas (Buddhist priests), the people of Tibet were terribly poor, almost entirely illiterate, and lived like feudal serfs.
Today, Tibet presents a totally different picture. The illiteracy rate in Tibet has gone down from 95 per cent in the 1950s to 42 per cent in 2000. It has modern schools, universities, engineering and medical colleges, modern hospitals, freeways, supermarkets, fast food restaurants, mobile stores and apartment buildings. The capital Lhasa is like any other modern city.
While the economic growth in the rest of China has slowed down to about 7 per cent, Tibet has had a 10 per cent growth rate in the last two decades.
Tibet has huge mineral wealth, which was only awaiting Chinese technology to be tapped. Nowadays, it has numerous hydro and solar power plants and industries running with Chinese help.
Tibetan literature is flourishing, contrary to claims that the Chinese want to crush Tibetan culture.
Of course, now the lamas cannot treat their people as slaves.
The so-called ‘government-in-exile’, of which Lobsang Sangay claims to be the President, is a fake organisation, funded by foreign countries. They only want to restore the feudal Tibet, ruled by the reactionary lamas, something which will never happen.The writer is a former judge of the Supreme Court of Indiahttps://theprint.in/opinion/time-has-come-to-acknowledge-that-tibet-has-vastly-improved-under-chinese-rule/97172/

While the government of Nepal has framed a policy to tighten the noose around non-governmental organisations, they have welcomed 30 Chinese NGOs to enter the country. These NGOs will penetrate the country’s social sector at the grassroots level. This is the first time such a large number of Chinese NGOs have entered Nepal at one time. Nepal is increasingly open to Chinese influence, a sign that ties between both countries are strengthening, while India’s influence is being reduced. The time has passed for India’s monopoly to remain uninterrupted in Nepal as opportunities to engage with China are being welcomed.

30 Chinese NGOs all set to work in Nepal
REWATI SAPKOTA
Kathmandu, July 30
At a time when the government has framed a policy to tighten the noose around non-governmental organisations, 30 Chinese NGOs have entered Nepal to penetrate the country’s social sector and the grassroots.
The Social Welfare Council Nepal and China NGO Network for International Exchanges, an umbrella body of Chinese NGOs, have signed a memorandum of understanding to enable Chinese NGOs to work in Nepal. The agreement was signed yesterday between SWCN Member Secretary Dilli Prasad Bhatt and CNIE General Secretary Zhu Rui in the presence of Minister of Women, Children and Senior Citizen Tham Maya Thapa and Chinese Deputy Minister of External Affairs Wang Yajun.
The agreement has paved the way for the first batch of 30 Chinese NGOs to work in Nepal for a period of three years. Their contract will be extended based on the consent of SWCN and CNIE. Representatives of these 30 Chinese NGOs were also present during yesterday’s signing ceremony. They have agreed to work in partnership with local NGOs to implement their programmes and projects.
The Chinese NGOs are eyeing areas such as livelihood, healthcare, education, skill-based training, community development and disaster management. This is the first time such a large number of Chinese NGOs has entered Nepal at one time. The Chinese assistance so far in Nepal has largely been limited to development of infrastructure projects. But the entry of these NGOs indicates China is keen on making its presence felt in Nepal’s social sector and the grassroots, which, till date, have remained domains of the West and countries such as Japan and India.
The MoU signed between SWCN and CNIE states that Chinese NGOs will be mobilised for ‘the benefit of needy Nepalis and to enhance ties between China and Nepal through people-to-people support programmes’.
“The Chinese NGOs will abide by the law of Nepal in its entirety while carrying out development cooperation in Nepal,” says the MoU, adding, “Chinese NGOs will submit programmes to the SWCN to carry out development activities in partnership with Nepali NGOs and SWCN in line with plans and policies of the government of Nepal.”
The MoU was signed at a time when the government has drafted the National Integrity Policy to limit activities of NGOs and INGOs, as some of them were found ‘trying to break communal harmony and proselytising Nepalis’. There were also concerns that high administrative cost of many NGOs and INGOs was preventing money from reaching the real beneficiaries. The policy clearly states that NGOs and INGOs cannot spend more than specified amount under administrative and consultant headings. They will also be barred from working against Nepal’s interests, culture and communal harmony and conducting activities to promote their religious, social or other agenda, adds the policy.
Around 48,000 NGOs are currently registered in Nepal, of which only 1,600 have been receiving funds from INGOs, as per SWCN. The SWCN has directed INGOs and NGOs to spend 60 per cent of the budget to generate tangible results, while the remaining can be used to cover administrative costs and organise training, meetings and seminars.https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/30-chinese-ngos-all-set-to-work-in-nepal/

The cracks in Tibetan society are starting to show, and it is now coming to the attention of local Indians who have all but identified the Tibetan leadership as the source of the divisions. According to this author, disunity amongst the Tibetans is now creating problems for Indian law enforcement agencies, and this disunity may culminate in young Tibetans holding silent grudges against their host country. It is incredible that after six decades of generosity from India, Indians are now facing the very real possibility Tibetans can be ungrateful towards India. The Tibetan leadership totally failed to impart positive values upon their exiled community, like gratitude for those kindest to them and the need to repay these kindnesses with real, tangible results. It’s also very unlikely that the Tibetan leadership will now start to do this, after six decades of failing to do so. Indians need to realise this, and see that there is no benefit for their nation to align themselves with the Tibetan leadership, and there never will be.Tibetan disunity not in India’s interest
John S. Shilshi
Updated: August 7, 2018, 11:00 AM
India is home to the Dalai Lama and an estimated 120,000 Tibetan refugees. Though this humanitarian gesture on India’s part comes at the cost of risking New Delhi’s relations with China, India has never wavered in ensuring that Tibetans live with dignity and respect. Notified settlements across the country were made available so that they can live as independently as possible and practice Tibetan religion and culture. They are also allowed to establish centres of higher learning in Tibetan Buddhism. As a result, several reputed Buddhist institutes came up in Karnataka, and in the Indian Himalayan belt. In what may be termed as a gesture well reciprocated, and because of the respect and influence His Holiness the Dalai Lama commands, the Tibetan diaspora also lived as a peaceful community, rarely creating problems for India’s law enforcement agencies.
The situation, however, changed from 2000 onwards when unity amongst Tibetans suffered some setback due to developments like the Karmapa succession controversy and the controversy over worshiping of Dorje Shugden. In a unique case of politics getting the better of religion, two senior monks of the Karma kargyue sect of Tibetan Buddhism, Tai Situ Rinpoche and late Shamar Rinpoche, developed serious differences after the demise of Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, the 16th Karmapa, in 1981. This animosity ultimately led to emergence of two 17th Karmapa candidates in the early nineties. While Tai Situ Rinpoche identified and recognised UghyanThinley Dorje, late Shamar Rinpoche anointed Thinley Thaye Dorje as his Karmapa candidate. Enthronement of their respective protégés at the Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, the supreme seat of the Karma Kargue linage, being their primary objective, both started indulging in activities monks normally are expected to, and bitterness spewed against each other.
The bitter rivalry assumed a new dimension when UghyenThinley Dorje suddenly appeared in India in January 2000. The competition became fiercer and hectic political lobbying, never known in the history of Tibetan Buddhism on Indian soil, became common place. Apart from pulling strings at their disposal in Sikkim as well as in the power corridors of New Delhi, these senior monks spat against each other with allegations and counter allegations, widening the gaps between their supporters. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, choosing to favour one of the candidates—a decision many Tibet watchers felt was ill-timed—had also limited possible scope of rapprochement. Hence, the Karma Kargyue followers are now vertically divided, while the camps are dragged into a long drawn legal battle.
Another development that unfortunately split the Tibetans is the controversy over Shugden worshipping, which again is an internal matter of the Gelugpa sect, to which the Dalai Lama belongs. It erupted as a result of the Dalai Lama urging Tibetans to refrain from worshiping Dorje Shugden, a deity believed to be a protector, according to Tibetan legend. Shugden practitioners, who felt offended by the call, describe it as an attack on freedom of religion, a right, which Dalai Lama himself tirelessly fought for. On the other hand, die hard Dalai Lama followers perceived the questioning of the decision as one challenging the wisdom of the Dalai Lama and mounted massive pressure on Dorje Shugden practitioners to relent, with some even demolishing the statues of the deity. The rivalry ultimately led to split in two Gelug monasteries in Karnataka, and Serpom and Shar Garden monasteries in Bylakupe and Mundgod respectively came under the control of Shugden followers. The bitterness associated with the split is exemplified by the fact that till today, members of these monasteries are treated as some sort of outcasts by the others. Thus, for the first time, the Tibetan diaspora in India gave birth to sections opposed to the Dalai Lama, with spillover effects in Tibet and elsewhere.
For India, with a fragile internal security profile, a divided Tibetan population on its soil is not good news. It has several long-term implications. It is common knowledge that China considers Dalai Lama as a secessionist, one plotting to divide their country. The latter’s claim of “all that Tibetans were asking for, was a status of genuine autonomy within the Constitution of the Peoples’ Republic of China”, had fallen into deaf ears. China also considers him as someone who plays to the Indian tune to tickle China. Therefore, at a time when China has successfully shrunk the Dalai Lama’s space internationally, India continuing to extend the usual space for him is viewed as complicity. Sharp reaction from China when he was allowed to visit Arunachal Pradesh in April 2017, is a recent example. Such being the delicate nature of India-China relations on matters and issues concerning Tibetans, India can hardly afford to ignore the division within the diaspora. Past experience of dubious elements from Tibet having succeeded in infiltrating the Central Tibetan Administration, including the security wing, should be a warning.
It is also time India understands the reason behind Tibetans seeking Indian passports, despite an existing arrangement for issue of Identity Certificates, which is passport equivalent. Some had even successfully taken recourse to legal remedy on the issue, and left the government of India red-faced. These changing moods should not be viewed as desires by Tibetans to become Indian citizens. They are triggered by the pathetic state of affairs associated with issuing of Identity Certificates, where delays in most cases are anything between six months to one year. Early streamlining of the process will drastically reduce their desire to hold Indian passport. It will also remove the wrongly perceived notion among some educated Tibetan youth, that the cumbersome process was a ploy by India to confine them in this country. While India should not shy from requesting the Dalai Lama to use his good offices to end all differences within the community in the interest of India’s internal security, it will also be necessary to ensure that young Tibetans do not nurse a silent grudge against the very country they called their second home.https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/opinion/tibetan-disunity-not-indias-interest

Although the Dalai Lama has offered an apology, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) still expressed their disappointment over his controversial comment on Nehru, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC). Dalai Lama called Nehru self-centred.

The Congress said Dalai Lama being a foreigner should shun and refrain from interfering in the internal as well as external affairs of India.

Dalai Lama should abstain from imparting controversial information to students: Arunachal Congress
Dalai Lama should know that a spiritual leader like him is shouldering great expectation: APCC
| DAMIEN LEPCHA | ITANAGAR | August 12, 2018 9:58 pm
disappointment over the recent statement made by Tibetan Spiritual Leader the 14th Dalai Lama in which he called Jawaharlal Nehru, the former Prime Minister of India as “self-centered” and the one responsible for parting India and Pakistan.
“Although Dalai Lama expressed regret over his controversial comment, the APCC is extremely thwarted by it. A Tibetan spiritual leader calling names to an Indian leader who sweated most to keep him and his followers safe from Chinese aggression is simply not acceptable. Today, India is home to lakhs of Tibetan refugees who are living in 37 settlements and 70 scattered communities across different states of India,” APCC vice-president Minkir Lollen said in a statement on Sunday.
“Dalai Lama may have forgotten that India provided a beam of light and hope to Tibetans remaining in Chinese-dominated Tibet and in the neighbouring Chinese provinces politically cut off from the Tibetan heart land. All these happened only because India has great leaders like Gandhi and Nehru who took the responsibility of social burden to shelter thousands of persecuted Tibetans then in 1959,” Lollen added.
Minkir said Dalai Lama should know that a spiritual leader like him is shouldering great expectation, hope and trust of millions on record and the same are watching his contribution towards the mankind.
“In such circumstances, Dalai Lama should abstain from imparting partial and controversial information to the students who are the torch bearer of the nation,” the Congress said.
Further stating that the statement of the spiritual leader could be a politically motivated one and made with an effort to approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi for survival of his continuation in the country, the Congress said Dalai Lama being a foreigner should shun and refrain from interfering in the internal as well as external affairs of India.https://nenow.in/north-east-news/dalai-lama-should-abstain-from-imparting-controversial-information.html

The Dalai Lama is a very famous ‘brand name’ that can bring a lot of money. Anyone who is associated with the Dalai Lama can have their status ‘upgraded’. The CTA knows about it so they commercialised the Dalai Lama brand name.

They arrange Dalai Lama to go on a world tour to give talks and t0 meet with people. Through these people, the CTA is connected to more rich and famous to ask for donations. They will only arrange the Dalai Lama to visit rich countries. Recently, the CTA cancelled the Dalai Lama’s trip to Botswana but no long after that, they arrange the Dalai Lama to go to Japan.

The CTA likes to say they are loyal to the Dalai Lama which is not true because no one really cares what he wants or needs. The Dalai Lama has mentioned so many times he wants to go back to Tibet and he wants to go with the Middle Way Approach but the CTA and Lobsang Sangay are not doing anything, they are still going against China. The Dalai Lama also wants to visit Mount Wu Tai Shan so badly but no action is taken by the CTA to make this wish come true. So how loyal the CTA and Lobsang Sangay are to the Dalai Lama?

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.…Instead of turning away people who practise Dorje Shugden, we should be kind to them. Give them logic and wisdom without fear, then in time they give up the ‘wrong’ practice. Actually Shugden practitioners are not doing anything wrong. But hypothetically, if they are, wouldn’t it be more Buddhistic to be accepting? So those who have views against Dorje Shugden should contemplate this. Those practicing Dorje Shugden should forbear with extreme patience, fortitude and keep your commitments. The time will come as predicted that Dorje Shugden’s practice and it’s terrific quick benefits will be embraced by the world and it will be a practice of many beings.